Tuesday Apple Rumors: Defending Apple Patents Is Big Business

by Anthony John Agnello | January 24, 2012 12:58 pm

[1]Here are today’s Apple rumors and AAPL[2] stock items.

Apple Spends Big on Rising Legal Fees: Apple’s patent wars with its many competitors in the mobile device market aren’t fought for free. Filing lawsuits against Motorola (NYSE:MMI[3]), Samsung (PINK:SSNLF[4]), and the rest in countries around the world is an expensive process. According to Newsweek‘s Dan Lyons, at least one person close to the situation said that Apple spent $100 million on its first claims against HTC (PINK:HTCXF[5]) alone. What’s more, of the 84 claims of infringement on 10 patents held by Apple, the International Trade Commission found that HTC was infringing on only one patent held by Apple. With more than $76 billion in cash lying around, the Cupertino, Calif., company certainly can cover these costs. But there have got to be better ways to combat Google (NASDAQ:GOOG[6]) Android phones in the market than by throwing money at lawsuits.

Dutch Court Says Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Doesn’t Infringe on Apple Patents: Speaking of Apple’s flailing litigation, its claims against Samsung’s recently redesigned tablet have been struck down in another court. A Tuesday report at FOSS Patents (via Apple Insider) said Apple’s claim against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the Netherlands was invalid because Apple’s patent was too narrowly defined to be infringed on by the Samsung iPad competitor. The Dutch court’s decision sets a worrisome precedent for Apple, which next week faces a German court decision over similar infringement claims.

Light Field Cameras for Future iPhones?: Lytro makes Light Field Cameras. Named by Popular Science as the 2011 Innovation of the Year, Light Field Cameras capture “the entire light field” when a picture is taken, allowing the photographer to more easily manipulate the image (change focus, color, etc.). According to Adam Lashinsky’s new book, Inside Apple, on the inner workings of Apple (via a report at 9 to 5 Mac), the late Steve Jobs was definitely interested in adding Lytro’s innovative cameras to the iPhone. A passage in Inside Apple said Lytro CEO Ren Ng met with Jobs and was asked to send the executive an email outlining three ways Lytro could work with Apple.

As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello[7] and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook. For more from the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[8] stories.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/01/tuesday-apple-rumors-defending-apple-patents-aapl-goog-htcxf/

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